Catharsis
by ForcePassioneAndKibou
Summary: Consider it a continuation of the other two fics I've written about Sans having to remember some things he really wants to forget because of Gaster. This time Papyrus kind of gets caught up in it. Speech in [ ]'s means they're talking in WingDings.


Sans sat on the bare bed with his back against the wall. The room remained dark like always. He had been woken up from sleep, like always.

 **Recalling**. **Redacted**. The meaning of the words were worthless. Right now, Sans simmered in his emotions. No, this didn't feel like simmering, he was drowning inside of his own mind. The memories were really working him to the bone this time around.

As the memories swelled up so did the adrenaline. The magic in Sans' body reacted and began to cause his left eye to glow. Soon, he found himself falling as much as he felt like drowning. The truth about these timelines being doomed, one after another, starting and stopping. It was a heavy weight to carry.

Sans wanted someone else to know.

Sans didn't care about consequences right now. He just wanted to stop drowning.

"SANS! SANS!" Papyrus' voice grew closer until the door to the room opened. Sans darted his eyes over. **Release**.

"SANS, I THOUGHT I MIGHT….UH… WHY ARE YOU LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT?" Papyrus was framed by the light of the house. The way his shadow cast across the floor into the room kind of scared him. He wanted to reach over and flip the lights on, but seeing Sans with the lights on scared him more. There was safety in darkness.

"hey bro. i got a joke for ya. it'll be real quick."

"SANS, I'M NOT SURE-"

"what d'you call a skeleton stuck within a timeloop?" The silence was followed by the crackling sound of magic. Sans' attention was on Papyrus, but the magic when it lept from him attacked instead the pile of socks by the door. They rose up and turned into a tornado. Maybe at a different time it would have been funny to see.

Right then, Papyrus felt chilled down to the soul at seeing his brother acting this way. Especially because the magic was giving the room a blue glow, and he could see him sitting there. The expression on Sans' face remained oddly vacant and the smile static.

"…sans. get it? because "sans" means "without" and he's stuck "within" the timeloop? so he exists both within and without time?"

The staring became unbearable to Papyrus. He wanted it to stop, and for everything in the room to stop. Fear started growing inside him. If anyone could see the skeleton's eyes they would have seen an orange glow.

Sans couldn't see because he was busy looking beyond the present. He looked into the past and future and was babbling about both. Somehow, this felt better than drowning it inside himself.

Everything stopped when he noticed Papyrus had managed to pull him in a hug. Sans slumped and stopped talking when he felt the absence of the bed beneath him. Replacing it was his brother's familiar arms wrapped tightly around him holding him up in the air.

The magic inside himself winked out and Sans wrapped his arms loosely around Papyrus's neck. He tilted his head against his brother's before speaking,

"….sorry papyrus. i just… i can't exactly…"

"[SANS. I DON'T REALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU WERE TELLING ME. IF THIS TURNS OUT TO BE ANOTHER PRANK ACROSS TIME AND SPACE I'LL HAVE TO PUNISH YOU BECAUSE… BECAUSE YOU REALLY SCARED ME BACK THERE.]" The fact Papyrus reverted to their native language caught Sans' attention. He straightened up a little and replied,

"[bro i'm really sorry for that. won't do it again, i swear.]"

"[GOOD. I NEED YOU HERE, SANS. I NEED THE LAZY BROTHER WHO TELLS REALLY BAD JOKES THAT MAKE ME SMILE.]"

Sans smiled genuinely at the compliment. As he was continuing to be held aloft he noticed Papyrus had not moved from the doorway. How did Papyrus lift him off the bed? And why was there a sock tornado in the corner? Man, he really lost his touch with reality back there.

"ALSO, BROTHER, I ORIGINALLY CAME UP HERE TO TELL YOU SOMETHING."

"tell me what?"

"YOU LEFT YOUR QUICHE IN THE OVEN WITHOUT IT BEING ON. SO I TURNED IT ON FOR YOU!"

"oh. well. that explains the smell."


End file.
